Community Benefits History

Our History of Building Community

Throughout our history, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) has strived to be a good neighbor and environmental steward in the communities where we provide high quality water, power and sewer services. Our Agency has invested in 80+ initiatives to enhance the social, economic and environmental fabric of the communities we care so deeply about.

Our Commitment: Be a Good NeighborWe’re committed to being a good neighbor and addressing social and environmental issues through our Environmental Justice and Community Benefits Policies. These policies shape how we provide water, power and sewer services while ensuring the work we do every day positively impacts the communities we serve. Being a good neighbor is simply who we are and how we do business. It’s part of our DNA.

Being a good neighbor means:

Keeping our city healthy and safe by providing water, power and sewer services

Building healthy and vibrant communities in partnership with local residents to address their needs

Increasing our social impact by inviting our partners to use their resources to improve our local communities

From building green infrastructure projects to creating local jobs, we embrace our desire to be good neighbors and provide opportunities to our service area communities.

Working Together to Scale Up Social Impact

Our Agency is redefining the role public utilities in the 21st century can play in improving their communities and adopting more environmentally-friendly business practices. As the first public utility in the nation to adopt Community Benefits and Environmental Justice Policies, we’ve worked with dozens of other government agencies around the nation to replicate our efforts in their local communities.

We also invite our private sector partners to be good neighbors by including social impact commitments in SFPUC requests for proposals (RFP) with anticipated contracts of $5 million or more. Over the years, these multinational and local engineering, construction and architecture firms have provided resources and opportunities to the community including summer internships, scholarships, technical assistances to local business enterprises, habitat restoration initiatives and installation of solar panels for low-income households.